For reasons not asked of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao,she has requested a $77,000 raise smack in the middle of the completion of her sixth month in office. That this is even being considered shows just how off-base the City of Oakland has been,of late.
Brought before the City of Oakland’s Finance Committee,the strange outcome was a 3 to 1 vote,with Oakland District 4 Councilmember Janani Ramachandran being the only “no”vote. And Councilmember Ramachandran came on Zennie62 to explain (as if anyone needed an explanation) why her actions were correct in the face of obvious insanity.
To put this in perspective,the last Mayor of Oakland,Libby Schaaf,never once asked for a salary increase in the eight years she was Mayor from 2014 to 2022. Like her performance,or not –and most did not –Libby simply never asked for a pay raise.
Now,here come’s Sheng Thao,who…
1!) Has not done a thing to address Oakland’s immediate problems of crime,homelessness,and business closures,
2) Fired the popular Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong under the idea that the Federal Monitor Robert Warshaw said he wasn’t doing a good enough job,only to then turn and see the same Federal Monitor issue a new report that says,to boil it all down,the Oakland Police Department should still be under his control.
3) Picked up Mayor Schaaf’s mistakes in the Howard Terminal Ballpark Project,did not get the promised tax increment financing zone off the ground,brought the same issues around infrastructure costs back to have more talks,then screamed shock as the A’s got tired of Oakland’s games and took off for Las Vegas.
4) Is still under investigation at the hands of the Oakland Public Ethics Commission for possible violations of the California Elections Code,California Labor Law,and a slew of other alleged violations stemming from Sheng and her city council staff’s treatment of now-former-aide LeAna Powell,and which she told to Zennie62Media here:
5) City of Oakland staff morale is still dramatically low,
…yet Sheng believes that now,right now,she is due a salary increase. Now. Not at the end of the year,but now.
This is totally wild,but it’s true. Here’s the City Administrator’s memo text (and since he signed off on it,I put Justin Jenkins as the architect since the human resources manager Ian Appleyard resigned a few weeks ago,and is not around to explain to the City Council why he felt the time to do the salary increase was now).
Consider that Ian Appleyard wrote his message that he resigned two weeks ago on Linkedin:“After 30 years of public service,with 20 remarkable years with the City of Oakland,I am excited to announce my retirement as the Human Resources Director. It has been a privilege to serve this extraordinary city,and I am incredibly grateful for the support and opportunities I have had throughout my tenure….
And the date Ian wrote the memo was June 11th. So,why did he not stick around to present this controversial item? In other words,the drafter of the memo who would normally present it,is not available to answer questions about it.
And yet,the City Council Finance Committee signed off on it.
And then consider that the memo does not even show the benefits the Mayor of Oakland Sheng Thao gets,and that pushes the current compensation package well over $300,000,and to $357,000.
There’s no reason to support this salary request. It’s crazy. Oakland’s just sustained its largest budget deficit ever,and Sheng,even though some positions are unfilled,wants a $77,000 raise. Here’s the original memo,below.
Just say no. Or,if the Oakland City Council votes for it,vote those City Council persons out who back it.
DATE:June 11,2023
City Administrator Approval
Date:
Jestin Johnson (Jun 30,2023 01:40 PDT)
Jun 30,2023
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt An Ordinance Amending The Salary
Schedule Of Ordinance No. 12187 C.M.S. (“Salary Ordinance”) To Increase The Salary Of
The Mayor.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Adoption of the proposed ordinance will ensure the accuracy of the City’s classification plan and
Salary Schedule. This ordinance includes a routine action to modify the salary of the Mayor in
accordance with a Charter-mandated salary adjustment.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The Salary Ordinance (Ordinance No. 12187 C.M.S.) establishes salaries and classification
titles of positions. The Ordinance is amended regularly to accommodate the City’s evolving
classification needs. Pursuant to the Personnel Manual (Civil Service Rules),Section 3.04,
components of the City’s Classification Plan shall be administered and maintained by the
Personnel Director with the approval of the Civil Service Board.
As applicable regulations or departmental operations change,Human Resources Management
(HRM) staff consults with departments regarding classification needs and mandated changes.
These changes require HRM to amend the Salary Ordinance to add,amend,or delete certain
classifications. The proposed Salary Ordinance Amendment accompanying this report updates
the salary schedule.
The Oakland City Charter Section 300 specifies the formula for setting the salary level for the
Mayor. It states that the City Council shall set the salary as follows:
“The salary shall be set by the Council,which shall be not less than 70% nor more than
90% of the average salaries of City Managers/Chief Executive Officers of California
cities within the three immediate higher and the three immediate lower cities in
population to Oakland. The Mayor’s salary shall be reviewed by the City Council in oddnumbered years and may be adjusted by the Council as provided for herein.”
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
As stated above,the proposed action is recommended to update the Salary Schedule of the
Salary Ordinance.
Citywide Priorities include (1) holistic community safety,(2) housing,economic,and
cultural security,(3) vibrant,sustainable infrastructure,and (4) responsive,trustworthy
government. This is a charter-mandated salary adjustment process for this elected official
position that prescribes as specific methodology for adjusting the salary,which is subject to City
Council review and approval. HRM facilitates the implementation of salary modifications through
the salary ordinance amendment process. The adoption of the proposed ordinance advances
the Citywide Priority of responsive,trustworthy government.
The Rest Of The Memo Is A Link Below;Why Mayor Thao Does Not Warant This Increase
The reason Mayor Thao does not deserve a $77,000 salary increase is for two reasons:1) Mayor Schaaf did not realize a salary increase of this magnitude over her eight years in office,2) Mayor Thao has not even served a full year as Mayor of Oakland,3) Mayor Thao’s Oakland City Charter-directed job is to improve the economic development of Oakland,4) Mayor Thao has not taken any action to follow her Oakland City Charter-directed job of improving the economic development of Oakland,and 5) Mayor Thao is still under scrutiny of an Oakland Public Ethics Commission investigation,6) Mayor Thao has realized the loss of the Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas,7) City of Oakland staff morale is still dramatically low,8) Mayor Thao fired popular Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong,and 9) The Oakland Police Department is still under the rule of Robert Warshaw,as it has been for two decades. And that’s after Mayor Thao implied that Chief Armstrong was not getting the job done in getting Oakland out of the damaging trap it has been in over too long a time.
Mayor Thao has to do better,and so the increase in salary should be to just $250,000,but with a $50,000 annual bonus tied to performance.
Also Mayor Thao’s intitled to draw overtime compensation,a fact left out of the City Administrator memo.
Stay tuned.